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Douglas MacArthur
American military leader
| Date of Birth | : | 26 Jan, 1980 |
| Date of Death | : | 05 Apr, 1964 |
| Place of Birth | : | United States |
| Profession | : | American Military Leader |
| Nationality | : | American |
Douglas MacArthur was an American military leader who served as a general in the United States Army, as well as a field marshal in the Philippine Army. He served with distinction in World War I, was Chief of Staff of the United States Army in the 1930s, and played a prominent role in the Pacific Theater during World War II. MacArthur was nominated for the Medal of Honor three times and received it for his service in the Philippine Campaign. This made him the first father and son to be awarded the medal with his father, Arthur MacArthur Jr. He was one of only five men to be promoted to the rank of General of the Army in the US Army and the only one to be awarded the rank of Field Marshal in the Philippine Army.
Raised in a military family in the American Old West, MacArthur was valedictorian at the West Texas Military Academy and first captain at the United States Military Academy at West Point, where he graduated at the top of the class of 1903. During the United States occupation of Veracruz in 1914, he led a recapture campaign, for which he was nominated for the Medal of Honor. In 1917, he was promoted from Major to Colonel and became Chief of Staff of the 42nd (Rainbow) Division. On the Western Front during World War I, he rose to the rank of brigadier general, was again nominated for the Medal of Honor and was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross twice and the Silver Star seven times.
From 1919 to 1922, MacArthur served as superintendent of the US Military Academy, where he attempted a series of reforms. His next assignment was to the Philippines, where in 1924 he was instrumental in suppressing the Philippine Scout Rebellion. In 1925, he became the youngest major general in the army. He served on Brigadier General Billy Mitchell's court-martial and was president of the American Olympic Committee during the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam. In 1930, he became Chief of Staff of the US Army. As such, he was involved in the expulsion of Bonus Army protesters from Washington, DC in 1932 and the establishment and organization of the Civilian Conservation Corps. In 1935 he became Military Adviser to the Commonwealth Government of the Philippines. He retired from the army in 1937 and continued as chief military adviser to the Philippines.
MacArthur was recalled to active duty in 1941 as commander of United States Army Forces in the Far East. The attack on Clark Field and the Japanese invasion of the Philippines on 8 December 1941 resulted in a series of disasters, beginning with the destruction of much of his air force. MacArthur's forces were soon forced to withdraw to Bataan, where they remained until May 1942. In March 1942, MacArthur, his family, and his staff fled the nearby island of Corregidor to Australia, where MacArthur became the supreme commander of the Southwest Pacific. Upon his arrival, MacArthur gave a speech in which he promised that "I will return to the Philippines". After more than two years of struggle, he fulfilled that promise. For his defense of the Philippines, MacArthur was awarded the Medal of Honor. He formally accepted Japan's surrender on 2 September 1945 and oversaw the occupation of Japan from 1945 to 1951. As Japan's effective ruler, he oversaw massive economic, political and social changes. He led the United Nations Command in the Korean War with initial success; However, the Chinese entered the war as a result of the North Korean invasion, which resulted in a series of major defeats. MacArthur was controversially replaced by President Harry S. Truman removed him from command on April 11, 1951. He later became chairman of the board of Remington Rand. He died on 5 Apr 1964 in Washington, DC.
Early life and education
A military brat, Douglas MacArthur was born on January 26, 1880, in Little Rock Barracks, Arkansas, to Arthur MacArthur Jr., a US Army captain, and his wife, Mary Pinckney Hardy MacArthur (nicknamed "Pinky"). Arthur Jr. was the son of Scottish-born jurist and politician Arthur MacArthur Sr. Arthur Jr. later received the Medal of Honor for his actions with the Union Army at the Battle of Missionary Ridge during the American Civil War, and rose to the rank of lieutenant general. Pinky was a Descended from a prominent Norfolk, Virginia, family. Her two brothers fought for the South in the Civil War and refused to attend her wedding. MacArthur is also related to US Navy Commodore Matthew C. Perry. Arthur and Pinkie had three sons, of whom Douglas was the youngest, followed by Arthur III (born 1876) and Malcolm (born 1878). The family lived in a succession of army posts in the American Old West. Conditions were primitive, and Malcolm died of measles in 1883. In his memoir, Reminiscences, MacArthur wrote "I learned to ride and shoot before I could read or write—in fact, almost before I could walk and talk." Boy.” Until about age 8, she dressed him in skirts and kept his hair long and curly.
MacArthur's time on the frontier ended in July 1889 when the family moved to Washington, D.C., where he attended Force Public School. His father was posted to San Antonio, Texas in September 1893. While there, MacArthur attended the West Texas Military Academy, where he received the Gold Medal for "Scholarship and Deportment". He played quarterback on the school's tennis team, quarterback on the school's football team, and shortstop on the baseball team. He was named valedictorian with a final year average of 97.33 out of 100. MacArthur's father and grandfather tried unsuccessfully to get Douglass a presidential appointment at the United States Military Academy at West Point, first from Grover Cleveland and then from William McKinley; both were rejected. He later passed the recruiting test from Congressman Theobald Oetzen, scoring 93.3. He later wrote: "It was a lesson I never forgot. Preparation is the key to success and victory."
MacArthur entered West Point on June 13, 1899, and his mother moved into a suite at Craney's Hotel, which overlooked the Academy grounds. Hazing was rampant at West Point during this time, and MacArthur and his classmate Ulysses S. Grant was singled out for special attention by Southern cadets as the son of generals with mothers living at Cranny's. When cadet Oscar Booz left West Point and subsequently died of tuberculosis, a congressional investigation ensued. MacArthur was called to appear before a special congressional committee in 1901, where he testified against cadets engaging in hazing, but downplayed his own hazing, even though other cadets gave full accounts to the committee. Congress later outlawed "acts of a harassing, oppressive, abusive, insulting, humiliating, or humiliating nature," though hazing continued. MacArthur was corporal in Company B in his second year, first sergeant in Company A in his third year, and first captain in his final year. He played left field for the baseball team and academically earned 2424.12 out of a possible 2470.00 or 98.14%, the third highest score ever recorded. He graduated first in his class of 93 on 11 June 1903. It was customary at the time for top cadets to be commissioned into the United States Army Corps of Engineers, so MacArthur was commissioned as a second lieutenant in that corps.
Subordinate officer
MacArthur spent his graduation with his parents at Fort Mason, California, where his father, now a major general, was commander of the Pacific Division. Later, he joined the 3rd Engineer Battalion, which left for the Philippines in October 1903. MacArthur was sent to Iloilo, where he oversaw the construction of a wharf at Camp Joseman. He conducted surveys in Tacloban City, Calbayog and Cebu City. In November 1903, while working in Guimaras, he was ambushed by a pair of Filipino brigands or guerrillas; He shot both of them dead. He was promoted to First Lieutenant in Manila in April 1904. In October 1904, his tour of duty was cut short when he contracted malaria and dhobi itch during a survey of Bataan. He returned to San Francisco, where he was appointed to the California Debris Commission. In July 1905, he became chief engineer of the Pacific Division.
In October 1905, MacArthur was ordered to Tokyo to be appointed as his father's aide-de-camp. An acquaintance of the MacArthurs at this time wrote that "Arthur MacArthur was the most arrogant man I ever met, until I met his son." India via Shanghai, Hong Kong, Java and Singapore, reaching Calcutta in January 1906. In India they visited Madras, Tuticorin, Quetta, Karachi, North West Frontier and Khyber Pass. They then traveled to China via Bangkok and Saigon and visited Canton, Qingdao, Beijing, Tianjin, Hankou and Shanghai before returning to Japan in June. The following month they returned to the United States, where Arthur MacArthur resumed his duties at Fort Mason, still with Douglas as his aide. In September, Douglas received orders to report to the 2nd Engineer Battalion at Washington Barracks and enter engineer school. While there he served as "an aide to assist in White House functions" at the request of the President.
In August 1907, MacArthur was sent to the engineer's district office in Milwaukee, where his parents were living. In April 1908, he was posted to Fort Leavenworth, where he was given his first command, Company K, 3rd Engineer Battalion. He became battalion adjutant in 1909 and then engineer officer at Fort Leavenworth in 1910. MacArthur was promoted to captain in February 1911 and appointed head of the Military Engineering Department and Field Engineer School. He participated in exercises at San Antonio, Texas with the Maneuver Division in 1911 and served on detached duty in Panama in January and February 1912. For their mother, whose health had deteriorated. MacArthur requested a transfer to Washington, D.C., so that his mother could be near Johns Hopkins Hospital. Army Chief of Staff, Major General Leonard Wood, Secretary of War Henry L. took the matter to Stimson, who arranged for MacArthur to be posted to the Office of the Chief of Staff in 1912.
Expedition to Veracruz
On 21 April 1914, President Woodrow Wilson ordered the occupation of Veracruz. MacArthur arrived on 1 May 1914 to join the headquarters staff sent to the area. He realized that the railroad would need advance logistical support from Veracruz. Finding plenty of railroad cars at Veracruz but no locomotives, MacArthur set out to verify a report that there was a locomotive at Alvarado. In exchange for $150 in gold, he acquired the services of a handcar and three Mexicans, whom he disarmed. MacArthur and his team installed five engines in the Alvarado, two of which were switchers only, but the other three were exactly what was needed. On the way back to Veracruz, five armed men attacked his group. The party made a run for it and overtook all but two armed men, whom MacArthur shot. After a while about fifteen horsemen attacked them. MacArthur's clothes were hit by three bullets but were unharmed. One of his companions was slightly wounded before the horsemen retired after MacArthur shot four of them. Later, the group is attacked a third time by three horsemen. MacArthur received another bullet hole in his shirt, but his men, using their handcarts, managed to outrun all but one of their attackers. MacArthur shot both the man and his horse; The team had to remove the horse's carcass from the track before proceeding.
A fellow officer wrote to Wood recommending that MacArthur be put forward for the Medal of Honor. Wood did so, and Chief of Staff Hugh L. Scott convened a board to consider the award. The board questioned "this enterprise was advised without the knowledge of the commanding general on the ground". It was Brigadier General Frederick Funston, himself a recipient of the Medal of Honor, who considered the award of the medal to MacArthur "entirely appropriate and just". However, the Board feared that "granting the proposed award might encourage any other staff officer in similar circumstances, to ignore the local commander, possibly interfering with the latter's plans"; As a result, MacArthur received no award.
The Battles of Saint-Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne are offensive
The 42nd Division rested for several weeks, returning to the line for the Battle of Saint-Mihiel on 12 September 1918. Allied forces advanced quickly and MacArthur was awarded a fifth Silver Star for commanding the 84th Infantry Brigade. In his later life he recalled:
On arrival I saw a sight I shall never forget. Our advance was so rapid that the Germans retreated in panic. There was a German officer's horse mounted and stabled in a barn, a battery of guns complete in every detail, and the whole administration and music of a regimental band.
He received a sixth Silver Star for participating in a raid on the night of 25–26 September. The 42nd Division was relieved on the night of 30 September and moved to the Argonne sector where it relieved the 1st Division on the night of 11 October. In a recovery the next day, MacArthur was gassed again, earning a second Chevron wound.
The 42nd Division's participation in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive began on 14 October when it attacked with both brigades. That evening, a conference was called to discuss the attack, during which V Corps commander Major General Charles P. Summerall telephoned and demanded to have Chatillon by 6pm the next day. An aerial photo was found showing the German barbed wire gap northeast of Chatillon. Lt. Col. Walter E. Baer—commander of the 167th Infantry—proposed an attack from that direction covered by a machine-gun barrage. MacArthur accepted this plan. He was wounded, but not seriously, while leading a reconnaissance patrol into No Man's Land at night to confirm the existence of a barbed wire gap. Years later, as he mentioned to William Adelman Ganoy, the Germans spotted them and opened fire on MacArthur and the squad with artillery and machine guns. MacArthur was the only survivor of the patrol, claiming it was a miracle that he was alive. He confirmed that there was indeed a large, open gap in the area due to the lack of enemy fire from that area.
Summerall nominated MacArthur for the Medal of Honor and a promotion to major general, but he received neither. Instead, he was awarded a second Distinguished Service Cross. The 42nd Division returned to the line for the last time on the night of 4–5 November 1918. In the ultimate advancement in sedans. MacArthur later wrote that the operation "has been narrowly missed as one of the great tragedies of American history". Orders to ignore unit boundaries cause units to enter each other's territory. In the resulting chaos, MacArthur was taken prisoner by the men of the 1st Division, who mistook him for a German general. This would soon be resolved by removing his hat and the long scarf that he wore. He was awarded the seventh Silver Star for his performance in the attack on Muse Heights. On November 10, the day before the armistice with Germany that ended the war, MacArthur was appointed commander of the 42nd Division, on the recommendation of its outgoing commander Menohar, who had left to take over the newly activated VI Corps. For his service as the 42nd Chief of Staff and commander of the 84th Infantry Brigade, he later received the Army Distinguished Service Medal.
His time in command of the 42nd Division was brief, because on November 22 he, like other brigadier generals, was replaced and returned to the 84th Infantry Brigade, Major General Clement Flagler, his former battalion commander a few days before the Battle of Fort Leavenworth, taking command instead. It is possible that he could have retained command of the 42nd if he had been promoted to the rank of major general (making him the youngest in the US Army) but, with the sudden cessation of hostilities, this was unlikely. General Peyton c. March, the Army Chief of Staff (and a close friend of Arthur MacArthur), "blocked the promotion. No more stars would be awarded while the War Department was involved in demobilization. MacArthur returned to command.
The 42nd Division was selected to participate in the occupation of the Rhineland, capturing the district of Ahrweiler. In April 1919, the 42nd Division entered Brest and Saint-Nazaire, where they boarded ships to return to the United States. MacArthur traveled on the ocean liner SS Leviathan, which arrived in New York on 25 April 1919.
Army's youngest Major General
MacArthur became romantically involved with socialite and multi-millionaire heiress Louise Cromwell Brooks. They were married on 14 February 1922 at his family villa in Palm Beach, Florida. Rumors spread that General Pershing, who was also in love with Lewis, threatened to exile them to the Philippines if they married. Pershing dismissed it as "all damn poppycock". More recently, Richard B. Frank wrote that Pershing and Brooks had already "severed" their relationship by the time of MacArthur's transfer; Brooks was, however, "informa" engaged to a close associate of Pershing (he had severed ties to accept MacArthur's offer). Pershing's letter regarding MacArthur's transfer preceded Brooks and MacArthur's engagement announcement—a few days, though it did not dispel newspaper gossip. In October 1922, MacArthur left West Point and moved to Manila with Lewis and his two children, Walter and Lewis. Proceeded to the Philippines to take command of a military district. MacArthur loved children and spent much of his free time with them.
The rebellion in the Philippines had been suppressed, the islands were now peaceful, and in the wake of the Washington Naval Treaty, the garrison was being reduced. MacArthur's friendship with Filipinos such as Manuel Quezon offended some. "The old idea of colonial exploitation", he later admitted, "still had its strongest supporters. In February and March 1923 MacArthur returned to Washington to visit his mother, who was suffering from heart disease. He recovered, but the last time he saw his brother Arthur, who died suddenly of appendicitis in December 1923. On 7 July 1924 he was informed that a revolt had broken out among the Philippine Scouts over grievances regarding pay and allowances. 200 people were arrested and there were fears of an uprising. MacArthur managed to calm the situation, but his subsequent efforts to improve the pay of Filipino soldiers were frustrated by financial austerity and racial prejudice. On 17 January 1925, at the age of 44, he was promoted to become the youngest major general in the army.
Returning to the United States, MacArthur assumed command of the IV Corps Area at Fort McPherson, Atlanta, Georgia on 2 May 1925. However, he faced Southern prejudice because he was the son of a Union Army officer, and pleaded to be freed. A few months later, he assumed command of the Corps area at Fort McHenry in Baltimore, Maryland, allowing MacArthur and Lewis to move to his Rainbow Hill estate near Garrison, Maryland. However, the transfer was later described as "one of the most annoying orders I ever received": an instruction to serve at Brigadier General Billy Mitchell's court-martial. MacArthur was the youngest of the thirteen judges, none of whom had aviation experience. Three of them, including Court President Summerall, were removed when defense challenges revealed bias against Mitchell. Despite MacArthur's claim that he voted to be innocent, Mitchell was indicted and convicted. MacArthur felt that "a superior officer should not be silenced because of differences with his superiors in rank and accepted doctrine".
In 1927, MacArthur and Lewis separated, and she moved to New York City, taking up residence on the 26th floor of a Manhattan hotel. In August of that year, William C. Prout—president of the American Olympic Committee—died suddenly, and the committee elected MacArthur as their new president. His main task was to prepare the US team for the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam, where the Americans were successful. After returning to the United States, MacArthur was ordered to assume command of the Department of the Philippines. This time, the general traveled alone. On 17 June 1929, while she was in Manila, Lewis obtained a divorce, apparently on the grounds of "failure to pay". Given Lewis's great wealth, William Manchester described this legal fiction as "unruly". Both later admitted the real reason for being "incompatible".
By 1930, MacArthur was 50 and still one of the youngest and best-known major generals in the US Army. He left the Philippines on 19 September 1930 and was briefly in command of the IX Corps Area in San Francisco. On November 21, he was sworn in as Chief of Staff of the United States Army with the rank of General. While in Washington, he went home every day to have lunch with his mother. At his desk, he wore a Japanese ceremonial kimono, cooled himself with an oriental fan, and smoked cigarettes in a bejeweled cigarette holder. In the evening he liked to read military history books. During this time, he began referring to himself as "MacArthur". He had already hired a public relations staff to promote his image to the American public, together with a set of ideas he was known to support, namely: a belief that America needed a strong leader to deal with the possibility that Communists might lead. A great mass of the unemployed in a revolution; that America's destiny was in the Asia-Pacific region; and strong hostility to the British Empire. One contemporary described MacArthur as the greatest actor ever to serve as a US Army general while another wrote that MacArthur had a court rather than a staff.
The onset of the Great Depression prompted Congress to cut the military's personnel and budget. Some 53 bases were closed, but MacArthur managed to resist efforts to reduce the number of regular officers from 12,000 to 10,000. MacArthur's major program included the development of a new mobilization plan. He grouped together nine corps areas under four armies, charged with training and border defense. He is the head of the Navy Admiral William V. Also negotiated the MacArthur-Pratt Treaty with Pratt. It was the first of a series of inter-service agreements over the next decade that defined the responsibilities of the various services in aviation. The agreement placed coastal air defense under the military. In March 1935, MacArthur activated General Headquarters Air Force, a central air command under General Frank M. Andrews. Andrews' rapid promotion from lieutenant colonel to Brigadier General MacArthur supported Andrews' approval of the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bomber and the idea of a long-range four-engine bomber. This was controversial at the time because most high-ranking Army generals and officers in the War Department favored twin-engine bombers such as the Douglas B-18 Bolo heavy bomber. After MacArthur stepped down as Army Chief of Staff in October 1935, his successor Malin Craig and Secretary of War Harry Hines ordered Woodring to cease research and development of the B-17, and in 1939 zero four-engine bombers were ordered by the War Department and replaced by hundreds. Hundreds of inferior B-18s and other twin-engine bombers were ordered and delivered to the Army. Andrews, thanks to putting MacArthur in power in 1935, was able to secretly order research and development of the B-17 through bureaucratic loopholes when the Army and President Roosevelt finally endorsed the four-engine bomber in 1940. The B-17s were able to be produced immediately without any delays associated with research and testing.
Development of the M1 Garand rifle also occurred during MacArthur's tenure as Chief of Staff. There was debate over what caliber the M1 Garand should use. Many in the Army and Marine Corps wanted the new rifle to use the .276 Pedersen round. MacArthur personally intervened and ordered the M1 Garand to use the .30-06 Springfield round, which the M1903 Springfield used. This allowed the Army to use the same ammunition for both the old standard service M1903 Springfield rifle and the future new standard service M1 Garand. The M1 Garand, chambered in .30-06 Springfield, was cleared for service in November 1935 and officially adopted as the new Army service rifle in January 1936, just months after MacArthur completed his tour of duty as Chief of Staff.
One of MacArthur's most controversial acts came in 1932, when a "bonus army" of veterans was assembled in Washington. He sent tents and camping equipment to protesters, including a mobile kitchen, until the kitchen was withdrawn after the explosion at the Congress. MacArthur was concerned that the demonstration was being taken over by communists and pacifists but the Intelligence Division of the General Staff reported that only three of the 26 main leaders of the march were communists. MacArthur had contingency plans for civil disorder in the capital. Mechanical equipment was brought to Fort Myer, where anti-riot training was conducted.
On 28 July 1932, in a clash with the district police, two veterans were shot and later died. President Herbert Hoover ordered MacArthur to "surround the affected area and clear it up without delay". MacArthur brought troops and tanks and, Major Dwight D. Eisenhower, against advice, decided to accompany the troops, even though he was not in charge of the operation. The soldiers advanced with drawn bayonets and sabers under a shower of bricks and stones, but no shots were fired. In less than four hours, they clear the bonus army's campsite using tear gas. The gas canisters started several fires, causing the only death during the riot. Although not as violent as other anti-riot operations, it was still a public relations disaster. However, while the defeat of the "Bonus Army" was widely unpopular with the American public, it made MacArthur a hero to the more right-wing elements of the Republican Party who believed the general had saved America from a communist revolution. 1932.
In 1934, MacArthur sued journalists Drew Pearson and Robert S. Allen for defamation after they described his treatment of bonus marchers as "unwanted, unnecessary, unruly, harsh, and brutal. Also accused of offering a 19-gun salute to friends, MacArthur sought $750,000 (equivalent to $12.9 million in 2022) for damages to his reputation. In turn, the reporters threatened to call Isabel Rosario Cooper as a witness. MacArthur met Isabel, a Eurasian teenager, while in the Philippines and became his mistress. MacArthur was forced to settle out of court, secretly paying Pearson $15,000 (equivalent to $258,000 in 2022).
In the 1932 presidential election, Herbert Hoover was defeated by Franklin D. Roosevelt. MacArthur and Roosevelt worked together before World War I and remained friends despite their political differences. MacArthur supported the New Deal with the Army's operation of the Civilian Conservation Corps. He ensured that detailed plans were drawn up for its employment and that its administration was decentralized to corps areas, which became an important factor in the program's success. MacArthur's support for a strong military, and his outspoken criticism of pacifism and isolationism made him unpopular with the Roosevelt administration.
Perhaps the most heated exchange between Roosevelt and MacArthur was over the administration's proposal to cut 51% of the Army budget. In response, MacArthur lectured Roosevelt that "When we lose the next war, and an American boy, lying in the mud with an enemy bayonet in his belly, an enemy's foot on his dead throat, uttering his last curse, I want the name. Not MacArthur, but Roosevelt". In response, Roosevelt exclaimed, "You must not talk to the President like that!" MacArthur offered to resign, but Roosevelt refused his request, and MacArthur then stormed out of the White House and vomited on the front steps.
Despite such exchanges, MacArthur was extended an additional year as Chief of Staff and his tour ended in October 1935. For his service as Chief of Staff, he received the second Distinguished Service Medal. He was retroactively awarded two Purple Hearts for his World War I service, a decoration he approved in 1932 based on the obsolete Military Badge of Merit. MacArthur insisted on being the first recipient of the Purple Heart, which he engraved.
World War
Philippines campaign (1941–1942)
Defense of the Philippines
On 26 July 1941, Roosevelt federalized the Philippine Army, recalled MacArthur to active duty as a major general in the US Army, and named him commander of US Army Forces in the Far East (USAFFE). MacArthur was promoted to lieutenant general the next day, and then to general on 20 December On 31 July 1941, the Philippine Division recruited 22,000 troops, 12,000 of whom were Philippine Scouts. The main component was the Philippine Division, Major General Jonathan M. Under Wainwright. Initial American plans for the defense of the Philippines called for the main body of troops to retreat to the Bataan Peninsula in Manila Bay until a relief force arrived. MacArthur changed this plan to try to hold all of Luzon and use B-17 Flying Fortresses to sink Japanese ships that approached the islands. MacArthur convinced decision-makers in Washington that his plans represented the best deterrent to prevent Japan from choosing war and to win the war if the worst came to pass.
Between July and December 1941, the garrison received 8,500 reinforcements. Over the years, many pieces of equipment were shipped. By November, a backlog of 1,100,000 shipping tons of equipment destined for the Philippines had accumulated in US ports and depots awaiting ships. Also, the naval intercept station on the islands, known as Station CAST, had a top-secret purple cipher machine, which decrypted Japanese diplomatic messages and partial codebooks of the latest JN-25 naval code. Station CAST sent MacArthur its entire output, via Sutherland, the only officer on his staff authorized to see it.
At 03:30 local time on 8 December 1941 (about 09:00 on 7 December in Hawaii), Sutherland learned of the attack on Pearl Harbor and informed MacArthur. At 05:30, the US Army Chief of Staff, General George Marshall, ordered MacArthur to execute the existing battle plan, Rainbow Five. The plan was leaked to the American public by the Chicago Tribune three days earlier, and Germany publicly ridiculed the plan the next day. MacArthur disobeyed Marshall's orders. Three times, Far East Air Force Commander Major General Lewis H. Brereton requested permission to attack Japanese bases on Formosa, in accordance with pre-war intentions, but Sutherland refused; Brereton instead ordered his aircraft to fly defensive patrol patterns, looking for Japanese warships. By 11:00 Brereton spoke with MacArthur, and received permission to launch the Rainbow Five. MacArthur later denied having the conversation. At 12:30, nine hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor, aircraft of the Japanese 11th Air Fleet (doubtful - talk) achieved a complete tactical surprise when they attacked fighter bases near Clark Field and Iba Field and destroyed or disabled 18 distant. 35 B-17s of the Eastern Air Force, refueling on the ground are detected. Also 53 of 107 P-40s, 3 P-35s and over 25 other aircraft were destroyed. The bases suffered considerable damage, and a total of 80 killed and 150 wounded. What remained of the Far East Air Force was destroyed over the next few days.
MacArthur attempted to slow the Japanese advance by providing rudimentary defenses against the Japanese landings. MacArthur's plan to hold all of Luzon against the Japanese failed, as it under-deployed American-Filipino forces. However, on December 21,he reconsidered his overconfidence in the capabilities of his Filipino troops and ordered a retreat to Bataan after the Japanese landing force advanced rapidly after landing at Lingayen Gulf. Within two days of the Japanese landings at Lingayen Gulf, MacArthur reverted to the pre-July 1941 plan of attempting to hold only Bataan while waiting for a relief force to arrive. However, this change of plan came at a heavy price; Most of the American and some Filipino troops were able to return to Bataan, but without most of their supplies, which had been abandoned in the confusion. At midnight on December 24, Manila was declared an open city, Admiral Thomas C. Without consulting Hart, commanding the Asiatic Fleet, the navy was forced to destroy a considerable amount of valuable material. The performance of the Asiatic Fleet in December 1941 was not very good. When the surface fleet was obsolete and safely evacuated to try to defend the Dutch East Indies, more than two dozen modern submarines were assigned to Manila—Hart's most powerful fighting force. The submarines were confident, but they were armed with faulty Mark 14 torpedoes. They failed to sink a single Japanese warship during the attack. MacArthur thought the Navy had betrayed him. After an ineffective attack on the Japanese fleet the submarines were ordered to abandon the Philippines in late December, returning to Corregidor only to evacuate high-ranking politicians or officers for the remainder of the campaign.
On the evening of December 24, MacArthur moved his headquarters to the island fortress of Corregidor in Manila Bay and, arriving at 21:30, reported that his headquarters in Washington would be open on the 25th. A series of Japanese air raids destroyed all exposed structures on the island and the USAFFE headquarters moved to the Malinta Tunnel. In the first air raid on Corregidor on December 29, Japanese planes bombed all the buildings on Topside, including MacArthur's house and barracks. MacArthur's family rushed to an air raid shelter while MacArthur went to the garden of the house with some soldiers to observe and count the number of bombers involved in the raid when the bombs destroyed the house. A bomb hit only ten feet from MacArthur and the soldiers shielded him with their bodies and helmets. Filipino Sergeant Domingo Adversario was awarded the Silver Star and Purple Heart for wounding his hand from a bomb and covering MacArthur's head with his own helmet, which had been hit by shrapnel. MacArthur was not injured. Later, most of the headquarters moved to Bataan, leaving only the nucleus with MacArthur. The Bataan soldiers knew they had been put down but continued to fight. Some blame Roosevelt and MacArthur for their plight. A ballad sung to the tune of "Battle Hymn of the Republic" calls him "Dugout Dog". However, most clung to the belief that somehow MacArthur would "reach down and pull something out of his hat".
On 1 January 1942, MacArthur received $500,000 (equivalent to $7.12 million in 2022) from President Quezon of the Philippines for his pre-war service. MacArthur's staff members also received payments: $75,000 for Sutherland, $45,000 for Richard Marshall, and $20,000 for Huff Eisenhower—after being appointed Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force (AEF)—was also offered money by Quezon, but declined. These payments were made in Manila and Washington by President Roosevelt and Secretary of War Henry L. was known to few, including Stimson. Although the payment was entirely legal, the revelation tarnished MacArthur's reputation.
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